Bruce Wayne had his origin story told as part of FOX’s Batman prequel series Gotham for 5 seasons with David Mazouz playing the Caped Crusader’s young version from the moment his parents were murdered. But what many may not know is that there were actually plans at doing a different kind of origin series back in 1999. Tim McCanlies had pitched a series that would have been called Bruce Wayne. This series, while similarly to Gotham, would have made Bruce’s origin story an even bigger central focus compared to the FOX drama. It actually was in the veins of Smallville, the 10-year long series focused on Tom Welling’s Clark Kent before becoming Superman. Given that Warner Bros’ film division nixed the idea of any Batman live-action television series, Bruce Wayne never saw the light of day.
Although it’s thanks to this project that Tollins/Robbins Productions got the inspiration to pitch Smallville, inspired by the Bruce Wayne concept, to Warner Bros. TV, which allowed Clark Kent 10 years of adventures on the small screen. While the pilot never got to production stages, the script eventually leaked online along with rumors of who would have starred in what parts. Even though it was probably not intentionally inspired by this pilot, some elements were seen in Gotham in its own ways. But there were still several elements that Gotham never had that Bruce Wayne would have had if picked up to series. With that said, here are 10 things from the Bruce Wayne prequel series that we never got to see.
Bruce’s Friendship with Harvey Dent
Even though we saw Harvey Dent on Gotham, played by Nicholas D’Agosto, the future Two-Face would actually have a serious arc throughout Bruce Wayne. Similarly to Smallville tackling Clark and Lex’s relationship, Bruce Wayne would have depicted Harvey as the slightly older best friend of Bruce.
One crucial part that Harvey plays in the pilot is stopping Bruce from signing papers that would have made him give up WayneCorp as the episode ends with Bruce now owning his family company. If the show had happened, we’d have seen Harvey’s dark side be explored as foreshadowing his destiny in becoming one of Bruce’s biggest, but most personal foes of all time.
Bruce Battling Corruption with WayneCorp
The pilot made it abundantly clear that Bruce’s family company had been corrupted, particularly by Charles Palantine. This character would serve as one of Bruce’s earliest antagonists with the pilot making it clear that Charles doesn’t want Bruce around.
Had the series happened, viewers would have seen Bruce reshaping the company while also using his resources that would serve as key factors in his journey in becoming Batman.
Bruce Starting His Journey at 18-Years Old
While Gotham saw Bruce’s journey begin when he was 12, Bruce Wayne was set to follow the hero-to-be when he was 18 years old. In the pilot, one of the central plots was that it was just before his 18th birthday. The pilot focused heavily on Bruce trying to find a way to put his anger to better use as he was now back in Gotham City. Having Bruce begin his story to becoming the iconic hero at the age of 18 would have made this journey different from what we saw on the FOX series.
Bruce’s Exploration with Arkham Asylum
Arkham Asylum would have served as a key location in the series. During the course of the show, Bruce would start spending time there while exploring the psychiatric hospital’s patients. This is possibly where he would have met characters like the wannabe comedian Jack Napier a.k.a. Joker and perhaps even psychology professor Jonathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow. While details are limited, Bruce’s fascination with the criminal element would heavily be explored through Arkham.
Bruce’s Early Battles with the Mafia
Characters like Rupert Thorne, Carmine Falcone, and Oswald Cobblepot would have played into a mafia storyline at some point in the show. It’s unclear if Oswald was already Penguin at that time or if that would also be an origin story.
The mafia aspect is where we’d have seen a lot of Bruce and Gordon’s working relationship come into play. One of the core elements in Bruce Wayne was the working relationship between Gordon and Bruce before the birth of Batman.
Edward Nygma as a Con Man
Gotham had Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) become the Riddler by starting out as a member of the GCPD. That was definitely not the plan in Bruce Wayne as their version of Nygma would be portrayed as a disturbed con man.
Like with Jack Napier, Jonathan Crane, it wasn’t specified how big of a role Edward would play in the show. Assumingly, it would show fans the origin story of Edward becoming the Riddler.
Bruce’s Many Love-Interests
Bruce Wayne was definitely going to lean into the famous detective’s “playboy billionaire” character trait throughout the series. Supposedly, the show would have featured a number of recognizable female characters from the Batman mythology who would have been love interests to Bruce. From Harvey Dent’s sister Susan, gossip TV journalist Vicki Vale, Harleen Quinzel as a psychology student to a 13-year old Barbara Gordon herself, there were a lot of women planned to appear in his life.
Even though it was never specified if she’d have had any love adventures with him, Selina Kyle (or Selena as the pilot refers her to) would have recurred a consultant to Bruce before becoming Catwoman. We’re just going to assume that the series would have quickly abandoned the idea of exploring Bruce and Barbara as a couple.
Bruce’s Adventures with GCPD & FBI
Imagine how different Bruce would have been if he has used all his money and fighting skills to join law enforcement? The series would have explored Bruce temporarily join the Gotham City Police Department and work with closely with James Gordon.
While that would fall through, he would even try out attending the FBI academy and spoiler alert: it wouldn’t last for long. But that would have been something that Gotham never could have done with their Bruce.
Alfred Pennyworth as Narrator
Bruce Wayne was set to have Alfred Pennyworth do more than just act as Bruce’s guardian and butler. The pilot would have Alfred serve as the narrator in the series premiere and, supposedly, in the show’s whole run. In the pilot, the way Alfred narrates, he talks about the events as having already happened before the episode ends with the butler in the present time. We would have seen him enter the established Batcave with a brief glimpse at Batman’s costume in a display.
A Bruce Wayne/Smallville Crossover-Ish
Even though Smallville wasn’t planned at that time, Bruce was actually going to run into a 16-year old Clark Kent at some point. McCanlies had revealed in past interviews that Bruce would have met his future super-friend during a newspaper convention in Gotham City. Despite Bruce’s reluctance to engage with this kid, Clark and Bruce would have still had some kind of adventure together. A big takeaway, however, is that Bruce would notice that there was something special (or perhaps super) about Clark, teasing at their future as the World’s Finest.
